In the Kingdom of Eswatini, one out of every five children does not complete high school. Challenges begin at the primary school level even though education at this level is free except for ‘top up’ fees, school uniforms and bus fare for many to attend school. For orphans and vulnerable children for whom a daily meal is a struggle, these minor expenses pose a major barrier to education.
Today, another child is born. The offspring of a mother who just had her first menstrual period. I have known her for eight years and discovered that she may have been trafficking for at least half of her young life. Whenever I visited Eswatini, when she was around seven years old and still in Primary school, she would come along with her sister and they would sleep on the empty bed in my hotel room or on blankets on the floor. They would lie at the foot of my bed while I tried to compress half a decade of mothering into a few hours.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, Eswatini (formerly, Swaziland) has been staggering beneath double blows. Fifteen years ago when SOHO began as a ministry to a staggering population of orphans in the small kingdom, one third of the country was affected by HIV/AIDS and until two years ago, the country had the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world. Today, with a prevalence rate of 26%, the country with a population of 1.2 million still struggles to meet the needs of 120,000 plus orphans and vulnerable children.
The gift of Hope is like a breath of life. After 15 years of serving orphans and vulnerable children in Eswatini, SOHO seeks to expand its reach to address the growing needs intensified by Covid 19 and social unrest in the small Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly, Swaziland). The resources needed to heal, educate, feed and nurture children come from compassionate hearts that give funds to grow Hope.
Artists from three continents have come together as Friends of SOHO to acknowledge this important milestone and to help us generate the resources to meet the greater needs that confront us. In this Newsletter, we want to share stories of where HOPE saved lives and to share with you an Evening Of HOPE with SOHO and Friends that will be truly memorable.
During this season of celebration and thanksgiving, we pause to thank YOU, our supporters who have given of your resources to help the children we serve. Child-headed households are living situations where a child is the decision-maker and where there is no identifiable extended family to take care of them. That is our target population along with vulnerable children who may be at risk although they may have a caregiver.
Swaziland is experiencing political unrest. South Africa, which surrounds this tiny kingdom, is experiencing politically driven violence, looting and burning. The crisis that is resulting for orphans and vulnerable children will only intensify. Excessive food and fuel shortage, inconsistency in education, physical and emotional trauma for many is the result. SOHO is collaborating with academic and business partners to address three critical issues.
SOHO AND FRIENDS PRESENTS
AN EVENING OF
FEATURED ARTISTS
In Eswatini, there are over 100,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in a population of just over one million, with an estimated 10,000 child headed households. These children are the future. Our vision is to fill their future with hope.
In this issue you’ll read about the success of our virtual conference and the impact it’s made. Clicking below to open.
At the start of the year, most of us had not heard of Covid19. Certainly, it was not part of my lexicon. Today it is one of the most recognized terms globally. Last time I checked, 234,218 people had died from the virus in the US alone and 1,187,734 globally. For many, these are just disconcerting stats; for those who are affected either through disease or loss, it is a nightmare that seems to have no end. I thank God that though the plague passed through my household, by a miracle of God’s mercy, my husband, who was given a death sentence is more vibrant, healthier and more alive than he was before he was affected. I am grateful that I, as an unprepared care giver, with not so much as a mask or gloves available at the time, remained untouched by the scourge. For me, it is a testament to the power of prayer.
In Eswatini, where SOHO is serving, many don’t have masks, and some share to meet Government regulations. Food shortages have been most keenly felt by children who got what often was a solitary daily meal at school. School was also a safe place, so abuse is a greater threat than before.
I believe in shining a light rather than cursing the darkness. SOHO’s feeding program at Mhlosheni Welcome Place is serving 150 children. They line up in shifts, social distancing, collecting their food and returning to their homesteads to eat. Close to the center of town in the Nhlambeni area, SOHO has been providing food from INTSABA farm for another 145 children.
Children line up to receive food.
Families at Marekamp seek produce from Intsaba farm.
Phillip Prime has volunteered and supported SOHO from the start.
INTSABA farm is located between two chiefdoms in the Shiselweni region of Eswatini, with more child headed households there than anywhere else in the country. The chiefdom closest to the farm has ten feeding centers. Produce from the farm has fed 200 children from just one of the centers. The second chief whose territory is larger, has yet to be visited and he has a greater number of feeding centers.
There is so much to be done, but thank God and thank you, our light is shining. We want to do skills training at Mhlosheni, and send more children from Marekamp to Hope Discovery Learning Center when school opens at the beginning of the year. We need your involvement, your support, to build this Children’s Village at INTSABA. For starters, the ‘Suicide Road’ is being replaced by a safe new mile-long road for which we have raised $40,000 of the $60,000 to get the full project complete. We’ve engaged the builder on faith so he could get the job done before the heavy rains become a problem. We still need $20,000 to cover that cost when the job is done end of November.
